Tag Archives: Todd James

Red Cross, Avon Lake mayor team up to send smoke alarms to West Virginia

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By Todd James, American Red Cross

In my nearly 20 years with the American Red Cross, I have seen many times how our chapters across the country work together to deliver help where it’s needed. I’ve worked side by side with disaster responders from many cities, states, and even other countries. But it’s not only in disaster response that the Red Cross uses our national network of chapters to provide help. I recently had the opportunity to be a part of helping homes in West Virginia receive free smoke alarms as part of our Home Fire Campaign.  

It all started with a conversation between Joe Matuscak, a member of the North Central Ohio Chapter Board of Directors and Mark Spaetzel, the mayor of Avon Lake in Lorain County. Mayor Spaetzel asked Joe about the Home Fire Campaign, specifically how we provide free smoke alarms and preparedness education for families.  

Charleston, West Virginia high school students repairing homes

A couple of weeks after that initial conversation, the mayor was in Charleston, West Virginia as part of a mission project with the United Church of Christ. He was one of 31 adults that accompanied 85 high school students to Charleston to assist the Appalachian Service Project in providing home repairs and help to low-income families in the area.  

As a construction manager for the project, Mark oversaw nine sites that teams were working on. He noticed that many of the homes did not have working smoke alarms and knew that, for many of these families, the cost of purchasing new alarms was not a cost they could afford. Recalling their recent conversation, Mayor Spaetzel called Joe Matuscak and asked him if there was anything the Red Cross could do to help.  

Joe immediately called me and explained the situation. I told him we would do everything we could to make sure those homes would receive smoke alarms and the safety they provide. I’ve worked on disasters with several members of the Central Appalachian Region team in West Virginia, so I reached out to one of my contacts who quickly put me in touch with Angela Akers, the Community Disaster Program Manager for the Charleston area. I called Angela and explained the situation and within a couple of hours, she had spoken to the mayor, arranged to sign his team up as a Home Fire Campaign partner and provided the smoke alarms and training the team needed to install the alarms and educate families on being prepared for home fires.  

Mayor Spaetzel said he wasn’t sure at first if making the call to Joe would help. “You think about big organizations and the bureaucracy involved and you don’t know if it’s going to work,” he said. “But this was seamless, and it was so easy. The training was quick and clear, and the Red Cross team made it easy and simple to help these families. I know the families appreciated it, because they didn’t currently have working smoke alarms and many of them had never had them.” 

Mayor Spaetzel said that in his position, fire safety and prevention are always on his mind and he’s looking forward to working with the North Central Ohio Chapter to make sure families in Avon Lake know about the Home Fire Campaign and have access to the program.  

Being a part of the Red Cross family means having family members across the country who are ready to help whenever it’s needed, wherever the call comes from. For more information about the Home Fire Campaign, visit redcross.org/NOH.  

Remodeled office space puts a smile on my face – and other faces, too

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By Todd James, Executive Director, American Red Cross of North Central Ohio

When you work as hard as our American Red Cross team does every day, it is important that the space you are working in is comfortable and that you look forward to spending time there. We are excited to say that our North Central Ohio Chapter headquarters in Findlay is such a place! Recently, the office was completely renovated top to bottom, inside and out, as part of a nationwide office refresh initiative by the Red Cross.

Todd James outside the new Findlay headquarters

With fresh paint inside and out, building repairs, new flooring, new fixtures in the bathrooms, more accessibility including automatic doors, a new parking lot, new signage and more, our office is now a place where volunteers, community partners, families who are meeting with disaster recovery specialists and all visitors will feel welcome and comfortable.

It is surprising how much your mood can be lifted when you are working in a bright, clean, welcoming space and we are glad to offer such a space to our team and those we serve. We are very involved in our community, offering our location to partners and community organizations who need a meeting or workspace and now we can offer, in my opinion, the best location in town for groups to meet, a real showcase for the Red Cross and our commitment to our stakeholders and our community.

Pre-ribbon cutting

During a ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday, July 18th , representatives of the Findlay- Hancock County Chamber of Commerce and the Findlay Fire Department joined Red Cross board members, volunteers and employees to dedicate the newly refreshed space, along with a representative from U.S. Senator JD Vance’s office. On the day after Ohio’s junior Senator accepted the nomination for Vice President from the Republican Party, I accepted a proclamation stating, in part, “The Red Cross has long been a beacon of hope and support for countless individuals and communities in times of need, and your renovated office will undoubtedly enhance your capacity to deliver these critical services more efficiently and effectively.”

If you couldn’t join us for our Open House, we invite you to stop by our office at 125 Fair St. in Findlay and see for yourself. We will give you the “nickel tour” and tell you about the many volunteer opportunities available, so you can make this your home away from home.

See more photos from the ribbon cutting ceremony in our photo album here.

Posted by Ryan Lang, Red Cross board member and volunteer

National Volunteer Week spotlight: Roger Barton of North Central Ohio

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By Eilene E. Guy, American Red Cross volunteer

To celebrate National Volunteer Week, we are featuring profiles of some of the dedicated volunteers who help the American Red Cross fulfill its mission in Northern Ohio.

Roger Barton fills a pivotal volunteer role with the Red Cross: Leadership.

In his second year as chair of the North Central Ohio Chapter of the Red Cross, Roger is enthusiastic about the nonprofit organization and its many services: blood collection, disaster response, support for the armed forces and emergency preparedness.

But as an executive in private enterprise—he’s general manager of Reineke Ford Lincoln in Findlay—Roger understands that none of those activities would be possible without the financial support of the American people.

“I’ve been active in fundraising,” he said, explaining how he feels he’s making a difference. “It takes money to run an organization.”

“Roger is well known in the community and he knows how to inspire people, to get them enthusiastic about helping others,” said Todd James, executive director of the Red Cross’ North Central Ohio Chapter, who has worked closely with Roger since he joined the chapter board six years ago.

“Not many people appreciate the importance of raising the dollars it takes to pay the people who draw blood or buy the gasoline for disaster vans or provide AED and CPR training equipment.”

Roger had personal experience with the Red Cross long before he stepped into his current role. “I’ve always given blood,” he said, and when he was in the U.S. Navy, he learned that if he or a family member needed emergency messaging, it would go through the Red Cross.

In 2007, the Blanchard River overflowed, flooding Roger’s basement along with scores of other homes in Findlay. “The Red Cross had a pickup truck going through the neighborhood and they were handing out cleanup supplies.

“That really hit home,” he recalled.

Roger is looking forward to the easing of pandemic restrictions, when “normal” activities can resume, including fundraising events that he knows are important to meeting needs that never end.

“The more you get involved, the more you understand how vital the Red Cross is,” he said.

If you’d like to get involved in a vital organization—as a leader, donor, trainer or responder (on-the-ground or virtual)—contact your local Red Cross chapter or visit https://www.redcross.org/volunteer.

Red Cross executive helped launch disaster financial assistance program for Hurricane Harvey in 2017

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Part II of Todd’s reflections on his deployment three years ago – Click here to read Pt. 1

By Todd James, Executive Director, American Red Cross of North Central Ohio

August 26, 2020 – Note: At the time of this posting, on Wednesday, August 26, 2020, Hurricane Laura was expected to gain major hurricane status – possibly category 4 – and make landfall in the same general area of the Gulf Coast ravaged by Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Six volunteers from Northern Ohio were deployed prior to Laura’s landfall.

Ten days after returning home from Austin, where I had been deployed to lead communications following Hurricane Harvey as part of the American Red Cross’ Public Affairs team, I got a call asking if I could go back to Texas to lead a team in Houston. I am blessed to have a very understanding, compassionate wife who said, as she always does, “People need help, you need to go.” So, I headed out for my third deployment in six weeks.

Todd James in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 2017

Here’s the thing about being deployed: there are thousands of Red Cross responders who answer the call for help every day. Even though we come from all across the country, these operations often feel like a big family reunion. So many people I had worked with before and since were in Houston to help. And so much help was needed! Thousands of people were still staying in shelters, while hundreds of thousands were beginning the long road to recovery. 

3…2…1…Launch!

Thousands of Red Cross responders worked ceaselessly, providing shelter, food, comfort and much more, as they always do when disasters happen.

In the face of the unprecedented scope of the damage caused by Hurricane Harvey, the Red Cross was about to take a quantum leap forward in disaster response, launching the new Immediate Assistance Program (IAP). The IAP gives us a way to almost instantly verify people’s needs and provide immediate financial assistance so they can begin their recovery. Until now, this could mean days and, in large events, even weeks as Red Cross teams went house to house to verify damage and need, meet with families and provide financial help.

With the IAP, people apply with a phone call and with the help of technology and digital mapping, we verify their need and deposit help directly into their account or for pick up at their local Walmart. What a game changer! My team couldn’t have been any busier getting the information out so people could take advantage of this help.

Now, as you can imagine with any new technology like this being launched on this scale, there were some glitches. But thousands of people every day received the help they needed to get started on their recovery. In the first five months after Hurricane Harvey made landfall, 575,000 households received $230 million to use for help with groceries, gas, clothing, rent, bills and other needs for their families.

Since launching the IAP, the Red Cross has continued to improve the process. It’s now a regular part of our disaster response.

Outstanding in our field

A favorite story from my time in Texas happened one afternoon while my staff partner Matt and I were following one of our mobile feeding vehicles to get pictures and talk to the families they were helping. We received calls from our headquarters for interview requests to talk about the relief operation. So somewhere in the middle of rural south Texas, standing by a fenced-in pasture and surrounded by longhorn cattle, I was on my phone talking to a radio station in Maryland while Matt was on his phone being interviewed by a radio station in Phoenix, AZ. Welcome to the glamorous world of disaster Public Affairs!

After two weeks, I finished my deployment and returned home. But three years later, families and communities are still working to recover from the storm, and the Red Cross is still there supporting them. You can see a full report on our efforts at http://www.redcross.org/harveyrecoverygrants

Volunteer profile: Jeanne Eisentrager, American Red Cross of North Central Ohio

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Note: To celebrate National Volunteer Week, we are featuring profiles of some of the volunteers who help the Red Cross fulfill its mission in Northern Ohio

By Beth Bracale, American Red Cross volunteer

Jeanne Eisentrager’s story may surprise you, as it did me. She is a volunteer for the American Red Cross of North Central Ohio, working out of the Findlay office. Jeanne started as an administrative/operations volunteer and went on to become a Disaster Action Team (DAT) responder and caseworker. She’s become a vital part of the Red Cross team, known for her readiness to help with whatever’s needed and her ability to get the job done. Here’s the surprise: Jeanne has only been a volunteer since September 2018, but her enthusiasm, talents and boldness have earned the respect of those who work with her.

jeanne

“Jeanne is a vital part of our North Central Ohio Chapter team,” said Todd James, executive director of the American Red Cross of North Central Ohio. “In her work as an administrative volunteer and as a DAT member, she always gives her best and makes those around her smile and laugh. I look forward to the days Jeanne is working in the office because I know my day will be a little bit better thanks to her.”

Cheryl Wolfe, business operations coordinator, agrees. She said Jeanne “is dedicated, a hard worker, a shoot-straight-from-the-hip ray of sunshine to our office. She has a huge heart for those down on their luck and is often there to help her neighbors and family. She is a remarkable lady, and we are lucky to call her Red Cross family.”

Another surprise about Jeanne: she’s a senior citizen. Jeanne discovered the Red Cross volunteer opportunity while taking a class at the senior center to learn new skills to become “more employable.” Jeanne said, “I’m fortunate to have found my calling this late in life. I love what I do. I feel that I’m where I belong.”

She is currently the DAT supervisor, as well as the engagement coordinator. She also works with the smoke alarm program. Before the social distancing changes brought about by Covid-19, Jeanne was putting in 20 hours a week in the Findlay office, in addition to going out on emergency calls with the DAT. Her roles take her all around the region.

With the onset of social distancing, responding to emergency calls is a little more complicated. Recently, Jeanne went to the scene of a fire at an apartment complex involving multiple families.

“I just stood in the middle of the parking lot and called to the people, ‘The Red Cross is here to help. Give you me your phone numbers, go back to your cars, and I’ll call you.” She was able to assist five or six families, three of which she continues work with as their case manager. “We really need more volunteers,” Jeanne explained.

Inspired by Jeanne’s story? Wherever you are, there’s a role you can play right now with the Red Cross. The most urgent needs are blood donor ambassadors, blood transportation specialists, disaster responders and virtual volunteers. Find our more at https://www.redcross.org/volunteer/become-a-volunteer.html.